Do Your Goals Match Your Finances?

Today, we'll be discussing goals and how they match up with your finances. Hello, and welcome to Money Talks. My name is Ken Wink from Summit Financial Consulting. If you'd like more info about what you hear during the show today, be sure to give us a call, 586-226-2100, or you can visit us on our website, summitfc.net. While you're at the website, be sure to check out the podcast page. You can listen to past shows, and then you can also subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or Amazon Music. So as 2025 draws to a close here, a lot of families are doing more than just taking a little look at their portfolios. They're looking a little bit beyond the numbers to think about what those numbers might mean for their lives or their goals, and especially for their loved ones. So for a long time, I think a lot of people, their financial success was mostly measured in like performance and where do I stand compared to the S&P 500? You know, what are the benchmarks maximizing returns? But if you ask me, the landscape the last couple of years here might have shifted a little bit. Many people are now asking some deeper questions, like, do my financial strategies still reflect the kind of life that we want to live, and maybe the legacy that we want to leave to our, to our loved ones? So before we get started on this exciting topic, let me bring in my co-host, Tony Shore. Speaking of goals, Tony, we can happily discuss one of your favorite topics, my brother Jim Wink, um,

Excellent. Excellent. I know you just got back from a family trip. Speaking of spending time with family, you just got back from a family trip to a little camp with your little boys weekend out there, right?

Yeah. Yeah. We went deer hunting last weekend and my brother actually got the largest buck in about 25 years.

Wow.

And it's Jim, of course. Yeah. And of course it's Jim.

Yeah. Yeah. Everybody loves Jim. It's a new sitcom. Poor Ken is back seating it to Jim again. I mean, the guy gets everything. Well, here's the deal though. He got the looks and he's a lucky guy, but the brains, we know where they went. Ken Wink right there. Our host, Ken, got all the brains. Finally boomeranging back to me.

This is great.

Finally boomeranging back to me. We love talking about Jim, though. Speaking of Jim, what were you going to say? He got the biggest buck. Yeah, so he got the biggest buck.

You know, I want to tell our listeners and viewers, don't worry. We eat everything. This isn't for vanity. Nothing goes to waste. Yeah. But yeah, my great grandpa and his wife, Three siblings, three brothers built a log cabin out in the middle of the woods over 80 years ago, and we still go up there every single year and hang out. No running water. We just finally got a generator last year, so now we can charge our phones every once in a while. But yeah, it's out in the middle of nowhere and very, very rustic, but a good experience. Good to get together with the guys and catch up.

Yeah, that's huge. I think that's always great to spend some time out in the wilderness with your dad and your brother and friends and family. I think there you go. I really think that that's huge. I'm glad you went and did that, but I know you're a little tired. You already ruined it. I was going to tell our listeners you were snipe hunting. I thought you and your family... Get together to go snipe hunting. But that's great. We're talking about goals, though. And you asked the question, do your goals match your finances? And I told you before the show, the short answer for me, no. No, of course not. I think most people would say, no, my goal is to travel the world. My finances tell me I might make it to Iowa. So what do we do? What do we do about that, Ken? Right.

Yeah, yeah, that's definitely one of the goals is to create a realistic set of goals based upon your finances for how you want things to go while you're alive, how you want things to go after you're no longer here. And are you going to take care of your spouse or any other family members? If you pass away early, do you want your parents to be taken care of? There's just so many different angles. And coming up with a game plan, And letting your loved ones know how you feel about these things is really, really important. So that's one of the main things we're going to be talking about today.

Yeah, I think that's great. I think you've come up with a good topic. I'm excited about it. I'm already taking notes. I'm like, I'm going to take notes on the show today because Ken has some wisdom for us. You're going to hit us with wisdom today. I love that. As you always do each and every week. But the camping trip was great. I've been, my life's boring compared to that, going out to a cabin in the woods with your dad and your brother. Otherwise, how is Jim? He got the biggest buck, so I'm sure you'll have to hear about that for a long time, right?

Yeah, I don't think he's going to brag too much.

No, he's humble. If you know Jim, he's not a bragger anyway, so yeah.

Yeah, he won't rub our nose in it too bad.

Yeah. Yeah, yeah, you know, if I went out there with you and got the biggest buck. Well, no, that, that too. I'm not a hunter, but that's that too. I, even though I grew up on a farm, um, but, uh, that, uh, what you'd have to worry, if I get went out there and got the biggest buck, you'd hear about it, trust me. Yeah, I wasn't implying you to be a bad hunter, I just thought the, uh, the feedback I would get would be, oh yes, yeah. I would be merciless. Your brother is too nice. That's I hung out with your brother a couple of weeks ago and it was a lot of fun. So he's such a great guy. You got a great family. Yeah. I just admire your family a lot. Your brother, Jim is great. He was a lot of fun to hang out with. And of course the, what makes it fun is you weren't there. So we just talked about you.

You're like, I spend at least an hour with this guy every week. Yeah.

And it is wonderful. So, Ken, where do you want to start with the goals, goals matching the finances? I think a lot of our listeners out there would say, no, my goals are a little loftier than my finances. Right.

Right. Yeah. So like I said, at the open, like for a lot of time, for decades, I feel like people have been looking at financial success just through the lens of like numbers, like how much they have in their account. You know, I save some money on my taxes or, or maybe setting a goal for a net worth. I get a lot of people that call me and say, I want to set a certain net worth goal, uh, But that's not always the most important thing. And it seems like people are starting to refocus a little bit. So I can give you one example. So we recently sat down with a couple who had just gotten remarried. So they they'd both been married previously and now they're remarried. So a second marriage, second marriage, and they each had children from a previous relationship. And their big concern was just making sure. That their estate didn't accidentally cause a big conflict between all the kids down the road. So we just wanted to make sure that both of them were provided for if either one of them passes away. So the surviving spouse is okay, but then they also want to make sure that their children and grandchildren get everything just the way that they want. So that's, that's one example of sort of getting all of the ducks in a row so that everything's handled just the way that you want.

Yeah, yeah, that's what you want. You don't want to leave your family or loved ones in a bad situation. You want to have a plan in place. And I think it's good to work with a financial professional like yourself. That's how you're going to get your finances to match your goals. But it's not always about the numbers. I think a lot of people's goals is, I want a happy, healthy retirement. And I want, you know, usually it's focusing on family, like spending time with grandkids, taking them to Disney World and then finances. Obviously, unfortunately, sometimes it does rely on finances. Some of these things, these goals. So but not all goals are financial. I'm glad you pointed that out.

Oh, yeah. I mean, we get people contact us all the time and it's like I want to like you said, I want to go to Disney World. I want to throw a big party for my 50th wedding anniversary or maybe rewarding a grandchild who graduated with a certain degree, spending more time together, taking more trips to go visit family. But, you know, I mentioned a lot of family stuff, but there's other stuff, too. You know, they're supporting a certain cause. I had a client last week who said, Is really into trains and is supporting this charity that helps the restoration of both toy trains and actual trains and museums. You know, like everyone's got really different interests and what gets them going. And for other people, it's making sure that the next generation has a good education or maybe helping grandkids make sure that they start off on the right foot. So there's just so many, money's personal, right? And it's a way to show what you care about. While you're alive and then also after you're gone and, and maybe in some cases show some love.

Yeah. Show some love. I like that. Yeah, that's good. Okay. So we're looking at this, this, What about this? What do we need to know and what questions do we need to ask to make sure our goals do match our finances?

Yeah. So I think the first step and the most important step is just clarifying your values. So that sounds really simple, but I would argue it's a pretty powerful thing that you can do. So we recommend that all of our clients take a few minutes and just write down the principles that guide their financial decisions. So is it family security? Is it charitable gifting? Is it a lifestyle goal of so many vacations or so many family experiences? Or is it just leaving the most amount of money possible to your kids or grandkids? So just taking a minute, talking it over and writing down what your values are can really be helpful.

Yeah. Values and start actually pen and paper, I think is a great idea. List the values. And I think probably is it good to do it? Get your spouse involved too, right? If you're married or have a family, don't do this isolated or on an island. You need to be communicating these with everybody, right? Yeah. Right. Yes, absolutely.

And I would argue it makes sense to get your spouse involved. And then once you've sort of figured it all out, get your heirs involved or get the charity involved. Make sure everyone's on the same page and knows exactly what you're thinking and why you think that way. And you just don't want... A big family disaster after you're gone because everyone's trying to guess what you might've thought, you know, have, have some communication and you don't have to go over the numbers. You know, you don't, you don't have to go over the actual financial statements or anything, but let's just, let's up the communication a little bit, but especially yes, between a spouse, you know, in a relationship, you've got to have the conversations and make sure that they're on the same page. Cause again, otherwise there could just be a ton of conflict.

Yeah, yeah, that's true. And I think, you know, we were talking before the show, it's really important if you're married that both parties, husband and wife, even if one is used to sometimes in a lot of families, the wife handles the personal day-to-day finances and the checking account and the credit cards, sometimes it's the husband. Or maybe the husband handles the investing and the wife handles those other things or vice versa. But you all need to be on the same page, especially when it comes to retirement planning and financial planning, right?

Right. Yeah. And that's actually my second point here is once you get those values and the two of you, if you're single, then what you value. And if you're in a relationship, then what the both of you value and make sure you're on the same page. So step two is then prioritizing them. So you've got the list. But then you've got to rank them. So put the put the must haves and then the nice to haves in two different categories or just numerically list them. What's the most important? So for a lot of people, financial security for themselves is their their number one goal. But then what do we do after that? Is it kids? Is it grandkids? Is it? Vacations for you? Is it vacations as a family? Is it donations to charity? You know, figuring out how all these different values stack up is just as important. Yeah, you know, we gotta, we gotta make sure we're on the same page.

Right. I mean, it's like building a financial version of a grocery list. Some things are essential. Others are just good to have if there's room in the cart or maybe room in the budget. Nobody wants to hear that B word, though, Ken, budget. But you've got to plan maybe a spending, call it a spending plan. But I will tell you, when my wife and I started doing this, it changed. Our finances improved dramatically. A hundredfold because we started looking at them each month rather than just winging it. Yeah.

Yeah. Just, just looking at, so like you said earlier, like putting things on paper is good when it comes to your budget and looking at what you're spending things on, looking at it as good.

Yeah. We sit down at the kitchen table and Sarah grabs a notebook and a pen and I'm like, Oh, we're in trouble now. And we, we, we sit down and I get my computer out. I'm on my computer. She's writing notes and we're calculating and plotting and pulling up accounts. So I think that's so important. And we work with, obviously, financial professional. Ken, you and your team there can help our listeners out there so much. All they have to do is pick up the phone, give you a call.

Yeah, give us a call at 586-226-2100. We'd be happy to put a financial plan together for you and help you determine what you can afford once you retire. And also if you're not retired yet, when you can retire. And those are the fun, where we come in handy is the nice to haves category. So we can help you determine, can you afford that vacation home? Can you afford that luxury upgrade to your existing home or a vacation home? Can you afford an RV or an RV? Yeah. You name it.

So you're right. You, like you said, you list your priorities, prioritize what you want to do in retirement and make that list and look at it. That always helps. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. So our next step is to define your legacy. And this is the one that often sparks what I would say are the deepest conversations. So this is just basically after you're gone. How do you want to be remembered? How do you want things to be handled? So it's it's about. Who's going to get your assets? Like we want to make sure that that's decided. We want to do proper estate planning and figure out who's going to get what. But we also sometimes go a little bit deeper with our clients and say, well, how do you want to be remembered? You know, what impact do you sort of hope to leave behind after you're gone?

Yeah, it's more like the story people tell about you, not just the balance sheet, right?

Yeah, yeah. I've had clients that set up trusts just to fund a vacation home for the family. Like the family went to the vacation home. Wow. Um, but maybe the kids budgets are a little bit tighter. So the parents say, you know what, let's put a chunk of change into a trust. And this is just going to pay utilities and property taxes and annual repairs for the family vacation home. So that way the next generation can continue to enjoy it and not worry about the financial repercussions for doing it. So, um, That's that's one example, you know, creating family traditions that can carry on for generations. Maybe it's a charity. Maybe it's mentoring the next generation. Lots of different ways that we can handle this to basically make things happen the way that you want after you're gone. How do you want to be remembered? What's your legacy? Right.

I think that's really important. I think that's huge. How do you want to be remembered? It's not just about leaving the money then. Right. And so I love that because it turns building a strategy for something purely financial into something more meaningful.

Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. Next sort of tip that we have for everyone is I recommend you work with a financial services professional because this is the way that you can sort of get everything to come together. I don't know how people could do this on their own without advanced software that tells you. How are taxes going to be? What are long term care costs going to be? How's inflation going to affect things? How much is this Disney World trip going to cost? And by 10, 20 years, whatever it is, working with a professional, even if you just hire a fee only advisor to help you put this together, like just get another set of eyes on it. If it's important to you, I obviously recommend that you work with a fiduciary like us here at Summit. But I recommend everyone get a second set of eyes on their plan.

Yeah. Yeah. That's always important. Get that second set of eyes on your plan. And I know that you and your team there can work so hard at this. I encourage our listeners to give you a call, work with a trusted, make sure they're a fiduciary, ask, are you a fiduciary? That means they're, they're held to that standard. They're audited to make sure that they're making decisions or helping their clients make decisions that are in their best interest. And again, You know, you can you can find out, hey, is Ken the right fit? He and his team there at Summit, are they going to be what I need? There's no strings. There's no obligation or charge to set up a consultation and figure that out. That's the beauty of it. You know, you don't have to come in and bring a checkbook or become a client. You can come in just with questions. And I think that's very helpful. And I'm glad you offer that. But you're like a financial quarterback, Ken. Yeah, like the old Ken Stabler. I should call you Ken Stabler from the from the old Raiders. Now, that shows my age. You and everyone listening might not remember Ken Stabler, but he was a quarterback for the Los Angeles Raiders or the Oakland Raiders back then, I think. So at any rate, you're a quarterback. You help coordinate all those moving parts. I think that's really important. Yeah. I need the defense. See what problems are coming at you and let everybody know, Hey, these are the problems that we got this guy coming over here. And that's why you need a good financial quarterback.

Yep. Absolutely. Yeah. And you know, we'll also help battle the refs. I, the Detroit lions played on Sunday and there was a blown call.

Oh, I know. Oh, I saw the game. I watched every minute of the game. I saw that blown call. There were a couple of blown calls actually. And, that went against Detroit that were not good. Yeah, really, really a tough game. I don't know if Detroit would have won with that call, though. They weren't playing their best, unfortunately. No, they weren't.

But, yeah, it's, you know, as the financial quarterback, we'll try to overcome the elements with the defenses.

Even the refs. And in this case, I would compare the refs to the IRS in the financial world. Yeah. The IRS and the government or the Uncle Sam is like the ref that makes the bad call. He wants to take 20, 30 percent of your money you've saved for retirement. How can we avoid that? That's why we need a good quarterback to help us avoid that. Yeah. A good coach and quarterback. That's what you are. So what's the I think we're on to step five. What's that piece of the puzzle, Ken?

Just to schedule a family conversation. So I referenced this earlier. It might sound simple, but it's definitely one of the most meaningful steps. So bring your spouse if you have one, your kids. You could even bring future heirs.

Wait, I have to actually sit down with my wife and discuss things?

This is the grand unveiling of the plan, Tony. We put this wonderful plan together. We're going to share it with the family. Like I said, we don't have to talk about every single number or document, but just talk about what matters to you. That one conversation could literally keep the family together after you're gone. It can prevent tension. It can prevent misunderstandings later on. People can ask questions. Just make sure you're on the same page. You worked your entire life. You invested. What do you want to happen now? And just make sure there's no misunderstandings.

Yeah. Yeah. I think that's really important. I just, I, I can't stress that enough. I think it's so important to communicate and nobody wants to talk about their money though.

Ken, I mean, you don't have to get into the details, you know, just just say this is what's important to me. And and why, you know, and have that you can get into the nitty gritty to, you know, not discuss it after you're gone, but just, you know, get into the actual numbers after you're gone. If you're not comfortable talking about the numbers, if you want to stay private with the numbers. But obviously, eventually everyone's going to know. So it's just a matter of time. But I just think if you have those conversations, that'll actually strengthen the relationships of the next generation, because now they'll know, well, this is this is what dad wanted or this is what grandma wanted. You know, it's their money. I think it's your money. You know, you should have a say in how it goes out and what's meaningful and what's important to you.

Yeah, I think that's really, really, really important. Now, what about step six?

Just check your alignment every year. So this is what a lot of people overlook, but I would argue this at the tire shop. Yeah. Taking it into the auto repair dealer. A double check of the old finances. So I guess here, check your fluids, your financial alignment.

I see.

Ooh, check, check your liquidity. You know how much money you can ask.

Ah, see, look at that fluid, this car analogy now. Yeah. Yeah. We can run with this car repair analogy. Yeah. Yep. Yeah.

You know, you just want to take a look, revisit your goals, see how they line up with where your current financial strategy is.

Like you would do for your health, like a health checkup. Right. You go in for a checkup. You should at least once a year. Right. Absolutely. A doctor at least once a year for a checkup. You want to do that with your finances. And of course, for that, you need a financial doctor. And that's Ken Wink.

Well, I had a client a few months back that said, you know what? I really want to support this food shelter for low income people so that they can get food. And they needed to raise some money and the nonprofit hit the mark. So the client was like, well, they raised it. They don't necessarily need my money. Let's reallocate these funds to something else. So it's just one example where... Life changes, charities change, kids change, jobs change, addiction changes. You know, sometimes people are going through a tough time. Tax laws, markets move, family priorities evolve. There's just so much that can change.

Right. And there's life, big life changes like marriages in the family, deaths in the family, births in the family, weddings, divorce. So all of these things really... They change your financial plan or your legacy planning. So you want to get that looked at, get a second opinion. Even if you think you already have a handle on your finances, get a second opinion on where you're at. Right. Yes, absolutely.

So that's there's lots of things you can cover during that annual review. So, yes, you could. Yeah. Definitely at that time, also just look at the investments and the overall strategy. Make sure that everything's still lined up and getting a second opinion, especially from us here at Summit, to make sure that you're on track. It definitely can't hurt. It's just a good time to ask, you know, is this strategy that I'm on right now still serving the life that I want to live and what all my goals are?

Yeah. And like you said, there's a lot you can discuss in that checkup. And I think for those listeners out there who schedule a checkup with Ken, one of the things that you can discuss during that checkup is how great his brother Jim is. I talk a lot about that, how just fantastic Jim is, how he got that largest buck. Ever in family history. I love that. 25 years, but yeah, in the last 25 years since, since we've been keeping track. Yeah. Only 25. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Just that. So Well, Ken, this is great. What else? There's a step seven, right?

Yeah. Last one for today is red flags. So just watch out for red flags. These can show up in ways that maybe don't show up the way that numbers do on a financial statement. What do you mean? Like maybe there's a family conversation about money that you just don't want to have or a certain situation that's really tense or maybe there's some stress that's affecting your health or your financial confidence. You know, maybe just at some point you can't answer the question like, what's this money actually for? You know, if you're not if you're not sure what what you're doing, is this just the way that I want it? I'm very uncomfortable talking about this. You know, it might be time to pause and realign or maybe have another meeting with your family. Just if you're feeling a little bit sketchy about anything, just hit the pause button and maybe think a little bit deeper and maybe maybe make some changes.

Yeah. Yeah. I think that's great. Well, on that note, we're going to wrap up the show, but before we go, Ken, let people know how they can get ahold of you to set up that no charge, no obligation consultation.

Yeah, I feel like there's so many people that have done a good job managing their investments independently, especially with all the digital tools that are out there. But I think 2026 is going to be an interesting year. There's the one big, beautiful bill act and changes in interest rates and some changes to estate planning laws. There's just a lot of complex things going on right there or out there right now. So. I think having a financial services professional by your side or just getting a second opinion can help you navigate all that stuff with a lot more confidence. So we'd love to take care of our listeners and viewers. Give us a call at 586-226-2100. Or you can visit us on the web at summitfc.net. We're working really hard to upgrade our website right now. Should hopefully be up here in a couple of weeks. So excited to show that off to everybody.

All right. Well, hey, I think that's fantastic, Ken. And again, listeners, pick up the phone, give Ken a call, 586-226-2100, or go to summitfc.net. And that does it for today's episode of Money Talks with Summit Financial Consulting, LLC, and our host, the one, the only Ken Wink. Thank you for joining us for Money Talks. Don't head into retirement without a strategy that addresses both income and taxes. For more information, please contact Ken Wink at Summit Financial, working with people you trust. Call 586-226-2100 or visit SummitFC.net. Join us again soon for another episode of Money Talks.